Fall of Gotham
by Natsu14
Summary: Gotham City. A place full of darkness and decay. Despite its horrible stature and its inevitable doom, there was always one person who kept the cities safe. That person was my mentor, Batman. But now, he's gone. And with their biggest threat gone, the villains of Gotham came out of hiding all at once. Now it's up to me to protect Gotham, and his legacy
1. Chapter 1

Hey FanFiction readers how ya doin? It's been awhile since I've been on here but I'm back and hopefully I'll stay on for a long time! So anyway, I've decided to completely REVAMP my "Fall of Gotham story, mainly because I have new and better ideas for the plot. So hopefully you'll like this chapter and the many chapters to come after this.

Disclaimer: I do not own Batman or any other characters in the Batman universe, all rights go to DC Comics, Warner Brothers and affiliates. I do own any OC's unless stated otherwise.

Author's Note: In this story, Batman is dead. Yes, Batman is dead. I know most of you come to the Batman fan fiction page to read stories about Batman. But, if you're even the least bit interested in a story about Robin becoming a hero to protect a Gotham in trouble, then please read this story. Who knows, you may like it. If you don't, that's cool but please R&R!

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Chapter 1: Robin

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Gotham City. A place full of darkness and decay. A home to some of the worst criminals in the world. Despite its horrible stature and its inevitable doom, there was always one person who kept the cities safe...as safe as they could be that is. That person was my mentor, Batman. With the help of me and the rest of the "Bat Family", he took down anyone who dared to threaten his city, his home. For a long time, it felt like he was invincible. Sure, he would get knocked down. But every time he was knocked to the ground, he got right back up. Better, and stronger than he was before. We all looked up to him. The "Family", the city, and it's people. But as immortal as he seemed, he was still human. And eventually his luck would run out. Well, it did. And now the city's in shambles. As soon as he died, things started to get...noticeably worse for Gotham and it's patrons. First, there was the funeral. The funeral for Bruce Wayne, where everyone lost a hero and found out his secret. Everyone quickly concluded that Batman and billionaire Bruce Wayne dying on the same day wasn't a coincidence. The body was never recovered. And so at the funeral, a coffin full of his belongings and a couple of passing gifts was buried behind the Wayne mansion, right next to his parents. However, the death of the greatest hero in Gotham wasn't enough for the villains. They attacked the funeral and invaded the mansion. I and the rest of the heroes there tried to fight back, but there was too much commotion going on to focus. The Penguin smashed my head with a bottle and I fell to the ground. I was conscious long enough to see some people escape, and some die. Lucius Fox, a trusted friend of mine and Batman's, was unlucky enough to encounter the Joker on his way out. Rather than try to run, Lucius fought back, and was quickly silenced with a shot to the head. I woke up a few hours later. Someone had hid my body so that the super villains wouldn't see me.

Fast forward three months later, Gotham is still in control of the villains. Civilians live underground, in the sewers. With the streets rampant with crime and murder, it's the safest place for them. Commissioner Gordon and any surviving members of the GCPD have been protecting the civilians and making sure they were well and calm. After all, life in a dank sewer isn't exactly the best experience. I act as a specialized officer, working with other officers to protect the sewers from any unwanted company. We're given different assignments everyday. The assignments vary from putting up defenses, to patrolling the sewers to make sure everything is safe. Today, my job is to grab food for the people. Gordon and I are really the only ones who do this job, since we're the only ones capable

"Ready to go?" Gordon said to me.

"Yea," I answered.

We had a system. First, we'd gear up, making sure to pack any supplies we would need on the surface. We usually stayed there for two or three days. Gotham is a huge place, so just to be safe, we stay mostly in the southeast section of it.

"Alright then, let's go," Gordon said as he opened a manhole and inspected the area.

After he was done, he gave the signal and climbed up with me following close behind. After walking for about an hour and a half, we decided to stop and set up camp behind a dumpster in a smelly alley. It didn't exactly give off any homey vibes, but it was safe and that's all that mattered.

"All set up?" I asked him. He looked away from the can of soup he was struggling to open and nodded in my direction.

"Yeah, you going to guard the camp or should I?" He said. His attention turned back to the soup can he was prying open. "Damn thing."

I sighed and took the can from him. I quickly opened it with a batarang and handed it too him.

"Getting old or something?"

He laughed and took the soup.

"No, just impatient. Now, you guarding or am I?"

"I'll head out and search first, you can guard the camp."

"Sure, leave the old man the easy job. I might be a little older but I'm not senile, I know my way around a brawl."

"I believe you Gordon, which is why I'm trusting you to protect our valuables."

He grunted and mumbled as he sat down and ate his soup. I told him I'd be back in about an hour and walked off. I used the rooftops to my advantage. Jumping across them, rather than walking on the dangerous streets below. The first stop I made was at the restaurant "Bat-Burger". It was a crude burger shop that Mayor Quincy Sharp opened a few years ago to commemorate Batman's win over the "Condiment King". The shop was in poor condition, there were gangs signs graffiti-ed all over the wall and blood stains everywhere. The windows ere broken, and the "Bat-Burger" sign had been altered to say the "Dead Bat Burger". I scoffed and entered the burger shop. It smelled horrible. There were dead bodies everywhere, some were of gangs, and some were of civilians. I clenched my nose and continued to the back. I was about to open the storage door to grab as many vegetables and other foods that I could get, when I heard a noise coming from inside. I climbed up into the air vents and listened.

"Ha! Did you see the look on Mitchell's face when Joker shot him?!" Laughed a thug inside the storage room.

"See it? When shot him, some of it got on me!" said another.

"Some king he is huh?"

"He's the king of condiments idiot, only things he commands are ketchup and horse-radish!"

It sounded like only three. Not much of a challenge. One of them was standing under the vents. I dropped down on him, immediately knocking him unconscious. The other two pulled out their guns and fired in different directions, they were too confused to focus on one. I disarmed one and elbowed him in the head, he went down faster than he could scream. The last one aimed his weapon at me. He stared at me. with a look of puzzlement and terror on his face.

"Stay back freak!" He panicked. Or I-I'll shoot you in the face!"

"Ouch. That's a little rude isn't it?" I said. "After all, my face is one of my many good features."

He put his finger on the trigger.

"I-I m-mean it bird! Come any closer and I'll kill ya!"

"Okay calm down. Look, I just want answers ok?"

"What are you talking about?"

I slowly reached for the batarang in the back of my utility belt.

"I just want to know, how was your day?"

He stared at me, with an even more confused face.

"M-My day? You want to know how my day was?"

"Yeah, I mean you've got a tough job. Having to patrol this dangerous city, always on the lookout for other gangs and heroes like me."

He eased up a little. His finger was still on the trigger but it was a bit more relaxed.

"Not to mention your boss is probably a whack job! Who do you work for anyway?"

His tension returned.

"I know what you're trying to do!" He yelled. "You're trying to find my boss ain't ya? Well it won't work!"

"Whoa whoa buddy ease up. It's cool, you don't have to tell me. And look, between you and me, I respect you and your loyalty to the guy who hired you."

"Y-You do?"

He eased up again. His finger was completely off of the trigger, this was my chance!

"No, I don't."

I threw the batarang. It soared towards the crooked thug, hitting square between the eyes. He fell to the ground with a large thump! I walked over to him and grabbed the gun. I looked at the inscription on the side of the rifle. "WayneTech" it read. But Bruce's company never made weapons like this. I reached into the thug's shirt pocket to look for any clues. The only thing in there was an old and tarnished baseball card. The card had been painted to look like a clown. I took one look and knew who this thug was working for.

"Joker."

That was the last thing I remembered before a sharp pain on the back of my head made me blackout.


	2. Extermination

Hola people! I hope you guys enjoyed the last chapter. If you did, please R&R. Actually, even if you hated it please still R&R! I'd love to hear any feedback from you guys. Anyway, time for chapter 2!

Disclaimer: I do not own Batman or any other characters in the Batman universe, all rights go to DC Comics, Warner Brothers and affiliates. I do own any OC's unless stated otherwise.

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Chapter 2: Exterminate.

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"Damn it. Where are they?!" yelled a disgruntled Aaron Cash.

"Cash, calm down. They'll be back." I said.

"When Barbara?" he asked me.

I didn't really know how to answer that. It had been five days since Tim and my father left to get food. They usually only stayed out there for two or three, but it was already almost a week and there was still no sign of them.

"My dad is strong, and so is Tim. They'll be back soon, I know it."

"Yeah well, they better. People are starting to get hungry."

"We're all hungry Aaron."

He looked at the sickly crown behind us. Tons of sick and hungry men, women, and children. "Some more than others. Pretty soon we're going to start having riots. You can't contain this many people in here for this long. They go crazy, feel like the walls are closing in."

I looked at the crowd. I knew he was right, but I didn't want to admit it. I guess part of me was still hoping this was all a disturbing nightmare. That I would wake up back at home, and my dad would be in the kitchen, drinking his coffee and reading the paper like he always does. I'd kiss him on the cheek and tell him to be careful at work. He'd say something like "Hey, that's my line" and I'd smile as I went off to live my secret double life. But this wasn't my imagination, it was real.

There was no home for me, only the sewers. My dad wasn't as cheery as he was before. Sure he smiled, but it was a fake smile used to carry out false hope into this crowd. And my secret life wasn't secret anymore. After Bruce died, Hugo Strange got into the Manor and revealed all of our secrets to Gotham. My identity was revealed, along with Bruce's, Tim's, and anyone else Bruce had information on. Our weaknesses were outed too, including the Justice Leagues. With that data, Hugo with the aid of Joker and Scarecrow created a force field around Gotham. The field had security measures that manipulate all the heroes weaknesses, so no one can go in or out.

What's worse is that the villains actually think that they're doing justice, saying that Gotham has to "Pay for its sins". It's true, Gotham is a seedy town, always has been and always will be. But it's not like the villains didn't contribute to that. I noticed my friend Betty among the crowd. She was sitting silently by herself, reading a comic book and listening to music on her iPod. I sighed and walked over to her.

"Hey," I said. She couldn't hear me because of the music, so I had to get right in front of her to get her to notice me. She took off her headphones when she saw me and put an obviously fake smile.

"Hi," she said quietly.

"How are you doing?" I asked.

She looked down for a second and quickly looked back up. "Fine, I've been fine."

I could tell she was lying, but I didn't call her out on it. I just smiled and said "Good" as I sat down next to her. "What are you listening to?"

"Oh, um, it's actually a book on tape of the comic I'm reading."

I raised an eyebrow. "They make those for comic books?"

"Y-Yeah. It really enhances the action."

I smiled. "Well, I can't argue with that logic."

"Gordon, it's time for Croc duty," Aaron called to me.

"Sigh, great," I said in an unenthusiastic tone.

I stood up. Before I could head over to Cash, Betty grabbed my arm.

"Hey, do you think I could go with you this time?"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Betty never wanted to leave the safe zone, and to leave for a dangerous job was even more out of character. "Are you sure?" I asked. "This isn't some walk in the park you know."

"Nowadays," she started, "even a walk in the park isn't a walk in the park."

I laughed. "True. Alright, you can come. But stick by me, no wandering."

She scoffed. "For someone younger than me, you sure are controlling."

"I get that a lot. Now come on, Cash is waiting."

We walked over to Cash and listened to his plans.

"Alright, he said, "time to start. Barbara, you and your friend patrol the eastern section, I'll go to the west. Kate, you go North, and Megan goes South. If you guys see anything, use your talkies and get out of there, do not engage!"

We all nodded and moved out. Kate Spencer, the only other member of the Birds of Prey living (that I know of), had a humongous shotgun that I liked to call "overkill". And Miss Martian had no weapons, she has all the powers that her uncle had. I donned my Batgirl costume and Betty donned her Flamebird attire. We both knew it was unnecessary since our secrets were out, but it made us feel comfortable.

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Croc duty was a thing we did every other day, to make sure Killer Croc wasn't around to eat us. No one has seen him since the day Bruce died, but Aaron's convinced that he's still out there. Watching, waiting, for the perfect time to strike. Despite Aaron's "Captain Hook Fever", I think it's a good idea, you never know who or what could be lurking down in these sewers. "Betty, this way," I said, walking down a sewer corridor.

"Don't call me that," she said. "It's Bette."

"Oh come on, that's not even a real name."

"Yes it is, it's just original so not a lot of people have it."

"I guess that's true." I froze as something slid across my left foot. "Aiee!" I scream as loud as I could as I threw a batarang at the floor, nearly hitting the gigantic rat.

"It was just a rat," Betty said.

_"Barbara, are you girls ok? _Cash's voice came from the talkie. _"I heard the scream from over here, did you find anything?"_

I recovered from my mini heart attack and responded. "Fine Cash, just a minor, disgusting, annoyance". I turned to Betty. "Come on, let's keep walking." I could hear her silently chuckling about the whole ordeal. We trekked on for about another hour before we decided to take a break. We found the least dirty part of the sewer floor and sat. I could hear both our stomachs growling. "Hey did you remember to pack any rations" I asked.

"What rations? We ran out yesterday. Your boyfriend is supposed to come back with some food."

"He's not my- do you see that?"

She looked where I was pointing. In the corner, staring right at us, were two red eyes. I slowly reached for a batarang out of my belt. The eyes got closer and closer, with each step I tensed. Out of the shadows came, another rat. Betty laughed like a maniac, all the while pointing at me.

"Twice!" she yelled. "That's happened twice now!"

"Oh shut up, I hate sewer rats."

"That's not a sewer rat," Betty said.

"What are you talking about?" I asked her. Of course it was a sewer rat. It's a rat, and we're in the sewers.

"Sewer rats are the nickname for the common Brown Rat. That's a Sunburned rat."

"Oh, well sorry I didn't take Rat 101 in high-school," I joked.

She stuck her tongue out at me and continued to look at the rat, who was still staring at us. "Strange."

"What is?" I asked.

"Sunburned rats aren't indigenous to America. They're regular habitats are Enggano Island and Indonesia."

"So?"

"So, how'd it get in here?"

I shrugged. "Maybe someone lost their pet?"

She shook her head. "Sunburned rats haven't been recorded since the 1940's. They're rare, so I doubt someone would have one as a pet"

Suddenly, a voice echoed through the sewers. "You're right, Betty!" it said. "He's not my pet, he's my friend!"

"Where are you?" I pulled out my punch blades and got into attack mode.

A skinny figure jumped out from the shadows, landing right in front of the Sunburned rat. The person picked up the rat and began to pet it. "It is I!" he said. "The Ratcatcher!"

He paused for dramatic effect. he was probably hoping we would gasp and scream for help. But I honestly didn't know who this guy was. And from the confused look on her face, neither did Betty.

"So, you catch rats or something?" I finally asked.

He looked incredibly offended. "Catch them? I liberate them!" He was very eccentric.

"Well then shouldn't your name be the Rat-freer or something?" Betty asked. I giggled, slightly amused.

"That's it!" he yelled. "Now you shall face the revenge of the rats!"

"You really think you and your vermin can beat us?" I asked.

"Ha! With that bastard Batman dead, anything's possible!"

That did it. He just crossed the line. I charged at him, ignoring the part of me that didn't even want to touch him because of his contact with rats. He was wearing a mask, so I couldn't really read his face. But that never stopped me before. I jumped and roundhouse kicked him across the face. At least, that's what I would have done if my feet weren't being pinned to the ground by a small gathering of rats. It took everything in me not to scream at the top of my lungs.

"Barb!" Betty yelled. "Look out!"

Ratcatcher had a gun aimed right at me. "You know, usually I like to toy around with my victims a little before I end their misery. But you seem like a sweet girl, so I'll make this quick. Can't make any promises for your friend there."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about her," I said.

Ratcatcher looked up to see Betty's foot. Before he could react, she kicked him in the teeth. He was knocked back a few feet, landing on his backside. Betty pulled out a few birdarangs and threw them at the rats. "Take that you nasty critters!" She yelled.

Ratcatcher stood up. "That's it, I don't have time for this! Prepare for death girls!" He pulled a canister out of his pocket and threw it on the ground. A nasty green gas protruded out of it. Before I or Betty could react, more rats were surrounding our feet. "I'll see you two later," He said. "Oh wait, no I won't!" He mocked us as he ran away like a coward.

I turned to look at Betty. "What are we going to do?"

She pulled out two gas masks. She gave one to me and put the other on herself. "Take this and put it on, make sure it's secure tight!"

"You come prepared don't you?" I said. I put the mask on. The gas surrounded the entire area, killing the rats around us. "Come on, we've got to find him." We walked through the smoke, searching for the Ratcatcher. As we walked along, I heard something strange. "You hear that?" I asked Betty.

"No, is it him?" She asked back.

"I don't think so. It sounds like water. As I said that, I took another step. This step was special because instead of my foot contacting with flooring, it contacted with air. A scream barely escaped our mouths as Betty and I fell down into the stinky sewer water before. The currents were too strong. I struggled to keep my head up. I looked around for Betty, she was nowhere to be seen. I tried to scream her name but my lungs were filled with too much water. I finally gave up and sank to the water below.

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Alright, that's the end of chapter 2. I hope you guys liked it but like I said, I accept any and all types of feedback. R&R!


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